Adjustable waisted and abdomen-supporting garment



June 9, 1925. 1,541,703

F. w. GERLACH ADJUSTABLE WAISTED AND ABDOMEN SUPPORTING GARMENT FiledApril '7, 1924 amw/wtoz Z7. arZwcz flnowup Patented June 9, 1925.

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Application filed ApriL 7,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK IV, GERLACH,

a citizen of the United States, residing at illustrated in thedrawing,;the numeral 1 Kenton, in the county of Hardin and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAdjustableTaisted and Abdomen-Supporting Garments; and I do declare thefollowingtobe a full,-clear, and exact descriptionOf-tll}lIlVeI1tiO11,,SllCh as will enable others skilled in the art towhich it appertains to. makeand usethe same. I

This invention relates generallyto outer garments and-particularly .totrousers, it having been designed in order to providea pair of trousersor vthelikeiwith an adjustable waist and abdomen supporting means.

According to the invention, theiwaistof a pair oftrousersmaybeanadeadjustable for as much as four inches. The advantagefor this, is that a person may obtain a pair of trousers or the like-tofit him without requiring alterations to be made to obtain the propersize of waistband.

The primary purpose of the abdomen supporting means with which theimproved garment is provided, is of course to support the abdomen, butif the invention is embodied in a pair of trousers provided with sidepockets which extend forwardly toward the front of the garment, theabdomen supporting means will also serve to a certain extent to supportthe contents of the pockets.

The result of the whole combination and arrangement of parts is that avery perfectly fitting and neat garment is provided.

While the invention may be embodied in garments other than trousers, yetit is probably better suited for use in connection with trousers thanany other garment, so that in further describing the invention,reference will be had to the accompanying drawing which illustrates theinvention embodied in a pair of trousers. In this drawing Figure .1 is aperspective view of the upper portion of a pair of trousers constructedin accordance with the principles of the present invention, said viewillustrating the trousers as they would appear when viewed fromsubstantially the front;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the trousers when viewed from one sideand a portion of the rear part; and

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional View of a portion of the waist-band,said view being 1924. Serial No. 704,832-' I taken substantially on theplane indicated bythe line 3-3 of. Fig. 2. p

In the pair of trousers which are partly is used to .designatethewaist-band or waist.- encirelmg, portlon thereof, and the numeral 2 thehip-encircling portion. The trousers are provided at thefront with theusual fly 3,. and at the sides with side .pockets which opensubstantially over theliips and extend forwardlywithin the-front partof'thehipencircling portion 2.

The waist-encircling, 5 and: hip-encircling portions of the garment'areprovided at .the

sides with strips 5 which unite the front and rear parts. These :strips5which may beufolded so as ,to adjust the sizehofithe ,waist ,of.the/garment, may be...properly termed =take-up strips and arepreferablygradually widened from, bottom to, top.

'Securedto the innerside. of theavaistbit-11d ,OI'. ,Walsl, ellcllcllngport1on, 1 of, the garment at points ad acent the front edges of thestrips 5, are eyes or loops 6, and

secured to the side portions of the garment adjacentthe rear edges ofthe strips 5 are straps 7. These straps 7 are secured at these points atone of their ends and are carried forwardly across the strips 5, throughopen- 8 ings 8 in the waist portion 1 and also through the loops 6, andare then carried rearwardly around the rear part of the waist band 1. Bypreference, the straps 7 pass through additional openings 9 in the waistband 1, so that their ends pass around the the outer surface of thewaistband.

It is the intention for the rear ends of the straps 7 to be adjustablycoup-led together,

so that one of these straps is preferably provided with an ordinary beltbuckle 10 adapted to detachably and adjustably receive the rear end ofthe other strap.

By the construction so far described, it will be seen that thetightening of the straps 7 around the rear part of the waist, will causethe strips 5 to be folded inwardly and thereby make the entirewaist-band neatly fit the wearer. In other words, the folding.

of the. strips 5 by the tightening of the I straps 7 takes up thewaistband and makes it fit the wearer.

As hereinbefore mentioned, the trousers are also provided withabdomen-supporting means. substantially triangular-shaped strips 11which are disposed on the inside of the This means comprises a. pair ofwaist and hip-encircling portions 1 and 2 of the garment. The strips 11are sewed or otherwise secured along one of their edges to the fly seams12 of the garment, and if desired, along another of their edges to theto the waist-band 1. Their rear corners are secured to the waist-band 1at points substantially opposite the points where the loops or eyes 6are secured. By this means, whenever the straps 7 are coupled togetherby means of the buckles 10 and tightened, the pull will be exerted uponthe strips 11, and inasmuch as these strips extend downwardly around theabdomen, they will serve to effectively support the abdomen. Thehip-encircling portion 2 of the trousers is of course made so that it ofitself forms no support for the abdomen.

By preference, the abdomen-supporting strips 11 are disposed between the'side pockets 4 and the outer material of the garment, so that inaddition to supporting the abdomen, they will to a certain extentsupport the contents of the pockets.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, the construction, use and advantages of theinvention will be readily understood. It will be obvious that numerouschanges may be made without departing from the spirit and principle ofthe invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, so it is tobe understood that many changes may be made Within the meaning andscopeof the appended claim.

I claim:

A garment having a waist-encircling portion and a hip-encirclingportion, loops secured to the sides of the waist-encircling portion ofthe garment to lie substantially over the hips, straps secured at one oftheir ends to said waist-encircling portion in rear of said loops, saidstraps being carried forwardly to and through said loops and thenrearwardly around the rear part out said waist-encircling portion, meansfor adjustably coupling the other ends of saidstraps together, andabdomen-supporting strips disposed inside of the front part of saidwaist and hip-encircling portions, said strips being secured at theirrear ends to the sides of said waist-encircling portion at substantiallythe points where said straps are secured to the same, and at their frontends to the front of said waist and hip-encircling portion, wherebytightening of said straps will draw said waist-encircling portion tightaround the waist and also draw upon said abdomen-supporting strips.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto aflixed my signature.

FRANKW. GERLACH.

